DENVER (KDVR) — Banana Ball is coming back to Denver, and this time, the team has a fresh opposing team pulled straight from history.
That’s right: The wildly popular baseball phenomenon that features dancing, backflips, trick plays and more that swept through Denver this summer, bathing the city in yellow merch and memorabilia, is coming back Aug. 14 and 15 during its 2026 “world” tour.
The Georgia-based team doesn’t play baseball as you may know it; instead, it adds 11 rules to make the game faster-paced and more interactive. Founder Jesse Cole told ESPN that the rules will be tweaked during 2026 with an equalizer rule on trick plays. He said if the visiting team has more trick plays within the first eight innings, the team will earn an extra point in the ninth — an effort to increase competition, according to ESPN’s report.
DENVER, CO – AUGUST 09: Savannah Bananas pitcher Dakota Albritton throws against The Firefighters at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday, August 09, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) 
DENVER, CO – AUGUST 09: The Savannah Bananas hoist a Savannah Banana baby dance during the game against The Firefighters at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday, August 09, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) 
DENVER, CO – AUGUST 09: Fans enjoy the Before the Peel Show on Blake St. ahead of the game between the Savannah Bananas and The Firefighters at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday, August 09, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) 
DENVER, CO – AUGUST 09: A member of the Savannah Bananas Dad Bod Cheer Squad before the game against The Firefighter at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday, August 09, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) 
DENVER, CO – AUGUST 09: Savannah Bananas Flash Tha Kid somersault crossing home plate against The Firefighters at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday, August 09, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) 
The Savannah Bananas are gearing up for a weekend at Coors Field. 
Savannah Bananas fans in line for merchandise at McGregor Square (KDVR) 
Savannah Bananas pitcher Blake McGehee, right, dances during a pregame performance for the fans waiting for the gates to open before the team’s baseball game against the Wilmington Sharks, Saturday, June 11, 2022, in Savannah, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
Cole also announced on ESPN2 on Thursday that the Banana Ball Championship League will be playing in 75 stadiums in 45 states, meaning the team will play for an estimated 3.2 million fans next year. The team is even playing at nine football stadiums next year.
The league also launched a Banana Ball ticket lottery list, allowing fans to sign up for a chance to purchase tickets for the games. The team’s games in Denver both sold out this year.
The list closes on Oct. 31, and fans will then be contacted if they win a chance to purchase tickets. The league also announced on Facebook that it will not be raising ticket prices for the 2026 season: They’re staying at $35 base price, although MLB and larger venue games start at $40.
The league is also introducing two new teams this year, who will join The Bananas, The Firefighters, The Party Animals and The Tailgaters. The new teams are the Loco Beach Coconuts and the Indianapolis Clowns, the latter of which carries the name of a former Negro Leagues team.
Who are the Indianapolis Clowns?
According to MLB, the Indianapolis Clowns were known as the Negro Leagues’ version of the Harlem Globetrotters, with one player even playing on both teams at one point. The team started in the 1930s as the Ethiopian Clowns, originally aiming to be entertainers, but then turning to real baseball after a few years.
The team broke barriers during its time, MLB says on its website. The team would play in front of white and Black crowds, and was the first professional baseball team to hire a woman on a long-term contract.
MLB said the team continued to tour into the 1960s and “were the stuff of legend.” Some of the players would play with oversized gloves, and another was known to pitch balls from behind his back or between his legs. The whole team was reportedly known to turn the game into “shadow ball,” where players pantomimed a full baseball play, but without the ball.
Jesse Cole, the founder of Banana Ball, told ESPN on Thursday that he built a relationship with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and partnered with the museum to bring the Clowns back.
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
